Health Wise - Michele Sevier

Welcome to Health Wise!

It seems blogs are today’s venue to express opinions and specific views on a multitude of topics. Unlike other blogs, Health Wise will offer some opinion (of course), but focus primarily on education and hot topics. For simplicity and ease, entries will (hopefully) be short and to the point!

The natural health industry continues to grow and expand with not only new revolutionary products, but scientific validation on ingredients and their beneficial health values.

Many individuals today know that the regular use of certain supplements can improve your overall health and well-being. I will be posting information to assist you in the process of making informed, educated decisions related to your health needs.

 

Feel free to let me know your thoughts and personal stories on this exciting industry!

 

Sincerely,

 

Michele Sevier DNM DAc
Education Coordinator
nutrition house

Drug Resistant Bacteria in the Water Supplies

This morning's article on the CBC newsite reveals that Toronto’s tap water contains antibiotic resistant bacteria. And although we immediately think the cause is due to unmetabolized or unused medications that have contaminated our water supplies, researchers from Birmingham and Warwick University warned earlier this year that there are other causes. Scientists suggest that various common household products including shampoo, fabric softeners and other detergents are a large part of the problem.

Many cleaners contain chemicals called quaternary ammonium compounds (QACs). When used in sufficient concentrations these chemicals kill bacteria. However, when they become diluted in water supplies (sewers and rivers), bacteria becomes resistant to them. In their study, researchers found that the part of the DNA in bacteria that confers the resistance to QAC’s also contains genes that confer resistance to antibiotics.
To access either of these articles please visit

Toronto water has drug-resistant bacteria
http://www.cbc.ca/health/story/2009/10/25/toronto-tapwater-bacteria.html

Shampoo in the water supply triggers growth of deadly drug-resistant bugs
http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2009/mar/29/detergents-drug-resistant-bacteria

Probiotics Boost Immunity

From www.nutraingredients.com

Lallemand puts spotlight on immune-benefits for probiotics

By Stephen Daniells, 14-Oct-2009

Immune health from gut health is not too obscure for consumers, but work needs to be done on identifying the mechanisms involved, said the conclusions from a two-day meeting in Toulouse.

At a recent two-day meeting dedicated to probiotics and immunity, scientists and opinion leaders in immunology, respiratory medicine, paediatrics and gastroenterology met to discuss the role of probiotics and immunity.

When asked by NutraIngredients if the link between gut health and immunity too obscure for consumers, Lallemand’s Isabelle Champié said: “We don’t think so.”

“Awareness has increased in the past several years thanks to big dairy companies and more and more researches are conducted and advertised to prove the efficacy of probiotics in prevention of some diseases involving a low immunity.”

Champié added that most of the company’s in vitro or in vivo trials involve immunity.

“Even if many studies have been done, it seems that research in to [probiotics and immunity] is still in its infancy,” she said. “Immunity itself is always evolving, and a lot of research on mechanisms of actions need to be done.

“One of the messages of our seminar on which clinicians and scientists agreed was that ‘we know that it works but we still don’t know how it works’, we need to have more data on the mechanisms of actions to backup clinical trials. That’s why Lallemand is investing in new cutting edge technologies like Immune microarray,” added Champié.

A DNA microarray specific to immunity has been developed by Institut Rosell and the Biotechnology Research Institute in Montreal. The microarray is reported to study the effects of probiotic bacteria-human cell interactions upon the expression of genes involved in the immune response. In total, 1,354 genes appear on the microarray, said Lallemand.

“The immune microarray will serve as an excellent tool to compare the impact of various probiotic compositions upon immune response and to better understand their action mechanisms in the host, especially when co-challenged with pathogenic bacteria,” said Dr Julie Audy, laboratory manager at Institut Rosell in Canada.

Yvan Boutin from TransBIOtech, Canada echoed Champié’s statements about the mechanisms, noting that while it is now increasingly recognized that probiotics are able to influence the immune response, their modes of action are still poorly understood.

Expert panel conclusions

The two-day meeting was concluded by a panel discussion concerning the use of probiotics in the prevention of infectious diseases. The panel, chaired by Dr Patricia Conway, Professor at the University of New South Wales in Australia, concluded: “The panel was in agreement that probiotics held promise for decreasing a range of diseases in children and adults with applications including geriatrics. It was agreed that all diseases can be considered targets for [Lallemand’s immunity range] ProBioKid since it has intestinal and immune modulating activity and most childhood diseases appear linked in some way and reflect an alteration from the healthy state.

“In addition, the complete safety of ProbioKid was acknowledged and it was concluded that the extended use of ProBioKid as could be needed in countries with long winters was not posing any risks and that benefits would be anticipated.”

Omega-3 may prevent age-related sight loss

Wow, the list of health benefits from regular intake of omega 3 EFA’s continue to grow. Make sure to use a high potency EPA/DHA formulation like the nutrition house omega 3’s to ensure the delivery of the “therapeutic” omega 3’s.
Continue on to read the article from nutraingredients.com

By Stephen Daniells, 08-Oct-2009

Increased intakes of omega-3 fatty acids may reduce the risk of developing age-related blindness by 30 per cent, says a new study from the US National Eye Institute.
A subsection of the Age-Related Eye Disease Study (AREDS) supported the beneficial effects of omega-3 consumption for preventing age-related macular degeneration, the leading cause of blindness in the over 50s.

“If these results are generalizable, they may guide the development of low-cost and easily implemented preventive interventions for progression to advanced age-related macular degeneration,” wrote the researchers, led by John Paul SanGiovanni.

Eyes on AMD

AMD is a degenerative retinal disease that causes central vision loss and leaves only peripheral vision. It is the leading cause of legal blindness for people over 55 years of age in the Western world, according to AMD Alliance International.
Despite the fact that approximately 25 to 30 million people worldwide are affected by AMD, awareness of the condition is low, says the Alliance. And as the generation of Baby Boomers gets older, the Alliance expects incidence to be on the rise and triple by 2025.

There are two types of AMD – wet and dry. The former occurs when blood vessels grow abnormally beneath the macular (neovascular AMD). The blood vessels eventually leaks and the macular is scarred, obscuring vision. Dry AMD occurs when normal tissue in the macula slowly disappears. This results in a pale area of the macular called central geographic atrophy.

Increased intakes of omega-3 fatty acids may reduce the risk of both wet and dry AMD by 35 and 32 per cent, respectively, according to findings published online in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.

Building omega-3’s eye benefits

It is known that omega-3 fatty acids, and particularly DHA, play an important role in the layer of nerve cells in the retina, and studies have already reported that omega-3 may protect against the onset of AMD.

Indeed, a meta-analysis published in the June 2008 issue of the Archives of Ophthalmology found that a high intake of omega-3 fatty acids and fish may reduce the risk of AMD by up to 38 per cent. Scientists from the University of Melbourne in Australia reported that the benefits were most pronounced against late (more advanced) AMD, while eating fish twice a week was associated with a reduced risk of both early and late AMD.

The new study supports these earlier findings. SanGiovanni and his co-workers looked at a sub-section of 1,837 people participating in the phase 3 Age-Related Eye Disease Study (AREDS). All the participants were considered to be at a moderate-to-high risk of advanced AMD

Over 12 years of study, the researchers found that intakes of omega-3, estimated using a food-frequency questionnaire, were related to both wet and dry AMD risk.
Indeed, participants with the highest omega-3 intakes, equivalent to about 0.11 per cent of their total energy intakes, had a 30 per cent lower risk of developing both types than people with the lowest intakes.

“The 12-year incidence of central geographic atrophy and neovascular AMD in participants at moderate-to-high-risk of these outcomes was lowest for those reporting the highest consumption of omega-3 fatty acids,” concluded the researchers.

Being an observational study, the researchers did not consider the mechanism. However, an earlier mouse study partly funded by the National Eye Institute noted lower levels of inflammatory molecules, such as prostaglandin E2 and leukotriene B4, and higher levels of anti-inflammatory molecules, such as prostaglandin D2 (American Journal of Pathology, Vol. 175, pp.799-807).

Source: American Journal of Clinical Nutrition
Published online ahead of print, doi:10.3945/ajcn.2009.27594
“Omega-3 Long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acid intake and 12-y incidence of neovascular age-related macular degeneration and central geographic atrophy: a prospective cohort study from the Age-Related Eye Disease Study”
Authors: J.P. SanGiovanni, E. Agron, A.D. Meleth, G.F. Reed, R.D. Sperduto, T.E. Clemons, E.Y. Chew

Dr Oz or Mr Oz The Swine Flu Conundrum

Most of us are familiar with Dr Oz and his growing popularity in North American homes. Dr Oz simplifies medical concerns for the everyday person and encourages them to lead a healthier lifestyle.

For those of you who follow Dr Oz, you may be familiar with the recent H1N1 vaccination he received live on-air and his push for the general public to get the vaccination for themselves.

What didn’t make the headlines was his admission on CNN to Campbell Brown (http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0910/05/ec.01.html) that his wife was not having their children vaccinated. He is America’s Dr Oz, but, he is only quote “Mr. Oz at home” and further stated that “for most of us it's the right thing to do..” So why would a physician who is extolling the virtues of this new, relatively untested vaccine not ensure his family was protected, if of course it was the right thing to do?

The H1N1 immunization may be the right choice for many people and it is up to each of us to become fully informed about the vaccine, its benefits and possible risks. If we are not privy to the full story, how are we expected to do this? Case in point, there is much concern about the adjuvants that are being used in this vaccine. Squalene is the chosen adjuvant in the US supplies, creating much controversy as to the safety of this substance when injected. Various researchers have raised questions about the role of squalene and other adjuvants as a cause in chronic inflammatory diseases including rheumatoid arthritis, MS and lupus.

GlaxoKlineSmith is the Canadian manufacturer of the H1N1 vaccine and due to the proprietary formulations have not released information as to which adjuvant is being used Even as of a few weeks ago Dr Lynn from Canada’s Public Health Agency was unaware of which adjuvant was being used. Furthermore from the Agency’s website it is stated that although adjuvants are not new, they “have not previously been approved for use with influenza vaccines in Canada.”

So many questions with so few real answers. Without access to accurate information health decisions can be driven by fear and ignorance. We are swayed by the media standpoint often with limited information and subtle clues from media personalities that can be contrary to the popular information.

Why We Eat Too Much and Why

Many people complain of an insatiable appetite and/or suffer from food cravings. Often simple changes can help with these issues. CNN explored this very issue in the following article. Check it out at:

http://www.cnn.com/2009/HEALTH/09/18/why.overeat.eat.much/index.html

Who ME?

Most people in the health industry will testify that there is a small segment of the population that are fully aware of their health concerns and actively look for solutions to their woes.

More often than not it seems that the majority of the population does not act preventatively.
Furthermore, a recent report from the Natural Product Insider reports that many people actually fail to acknowledge their actual health situation and believe they are healthier than they truly are.

Awareness is often the first step to improved health, but lacking awareness can place us in a tenuous situation long term. My question is .....is it denial or is ignorance truly bliss?

Americans In Denial About Health

CHICAGO—Most Americans think they are healthier than they actually are, according to a new survey from Mintel.

Seven in 10 survey respondents (71 percent) said they think they’re in excellent or good health. But according to the Deloitte Center for Health Solutions’ Connected Care, 100 million Americans suffer from chronic illnesses such as heart disease, diabetes or hypertension. Only 25 percent of survey respondents said they suffer from or have been diagnosed as obese or overweight. According to the Center for Disease Control (CDC), however, two-thirds (67 percent) fall into these categories. Mintel calculated the body mass index (BMI) of survey respondents for a separate report on obesity and likewise found that 65 percent of people are overweight or obese.

While they think they are healthy, most realize they need to be more active and eat better. Mintel found 70 percent of adults think they should exercise more. Fewer than two in five (37 percent) say they exercise regularly and half of them (48 percent) only work out twice a week or less. The CDC recommends moderate aerobic activity for 150 minutes per week, plus two muscle-strengthening sessions per week. Two-thirds (65 percent) said they “try to eat healthier food these days,” but nearly the same percentage (59 percent) said they eat the foods they like “regardless of calories.” Similarly, half (52 percent) said they’re on a diet, but nearly the same number (45 percent) feel they often overeat.

About half of Mintel survey respondents (51 percent) consider it “very important” to live a healthy lifestyle; another four in 10 (39 percent) consider it “somewhat important.”

Nutrient Pairs

Often individuals will invest in single nutrients for their better health but often some nutrients work better in pairs and offer greater protection. Here are five pairs mentioned in a Harvard Health Medical School article.

1. Vitamin D and Calcium. In large amounts, calcium absorbs into the intestinal lining on it’s own, but in smaller amounts, it may have trouble diffusing into the body. With the help of vitamin D, however, it can be absorbed much easier.

2. Sodium and Potassium. Americans love their salt. According to the Harvard article, the average American consumes thousands more milligrams of sodium than we need each day. Excess sodium leads to blood vessel damage, which can lead to severe cardiovascular problems. Potassium encourages the kidneys to excrete sodium, which can reduce the amount of salt in the body. To get more potassium in the diet, the article recommends eating more fruits and vegetables and cutting back on cookies, salty foods and ready-made lunches and dinners.

3. Vitamin B12 and Folate. These two B vitamins work together to support cell division and replication, and metabolize homocysteine. Folate depends on B12 to be absorbed, stored and metabolized. Folate can be found in leafy green vegetables, beans and legumes, and vitamin B12 comes from meat, eggs and milk; however, many breads and cereals now come fortified with both vitamins.

Note: B12 supplementation needs to be taken with folic acid, unless you are using the sublingual form of B12 called methlycobalamin (check out the nutrition house brand of this premium form of B12). No folic acid is required if you are using methlcobalamin.

4. Zinc and Copper. Zinc and copper are plentiful in the American diet and since they compete for absorption in the small intestine, having both in the systems helps reduce the chance of overdose of either mineral.

5. Niacin and Tryptophan. Making another B vitamin appearance, niacin is best known for its positive effects on cholesterol levels. Tryptophan is an essential amino acid that supplies niacin through “some rather complicated metabolism,” according to the article. To avoid niacin deficiency, eat foods that contain a lot of tryptophan, like chicken or turkey.

Oprah sues supplement firms for false endorsement claims

The vast (albeit fraudulent) internet marketing campaigns brought acai supplements into the consumer’s eye. Heralded as a weight loss cure (not true) amongst many other claims, this berry is once again gaining attention through the lawsuit both Oprah and Dr Oz have launched against these unscrupulous companies falsifying their endorsements of acai.

Raed on from nutraingredients.com

Fraudulent dietary supplement marketing is again in the spotlight, after Oprah Winfrey and Dr Mehmet Oz filed a lawsuit against firms that had claimed the celebrities recommended their products.

Filed last week, the trademark infringement complaint targeted 40 internet marketers of supplement products.

According to complaint, the companies are "fabricating quotes or falsely purporting to speak in Dr Oz's and/or Ms Winfrey's voice about specific brands and products that neither of them has endorsed."

Oprah: Setting the record straight

The suit, filed by Harpo Inc, producers of The Oprah Winfrey Show and The Dr Oz Show, targeted manufacturers of acai berry products among others.
“Consumers should be aware that neither Oprah Winfrey nor Dr Oz are associated with nor do they endorse any acai berry product, company or online solicitation of such products, including MonaVie juice products,” read a statement on Winfrey’s website.
Harpo attorneys are also pursuing marketers of resveratrol products, it said.

Consumer complaints

Harpo also collaborated with Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan on an investigation of consumer complaints - many forwarded to Madigan's office by Harpo - that alleged deceptive practices of the companies.
“The acai berry supplement sales programs are among the most aggressive that we have seen using misleading sales tactics to scam consumers,” said Madigan.
“Consumers should always be skeptical and educate themselves instead of blindly believing any endorsement claims. Also, consumers need to be very wary of weight loss and health claims that sound too good to be true.”

Acai fraud

Madigan filed three parallel consumer fraud lawsuits last week against suppliers and marketers of acai berry products.
Filed in the Chancery Division of the Circuit Court of Cook County, the suits target firms including Advanced Wellness Research, Netalab, Crush, TMP Nevada. Charges include luring customers with free trial offers, charging customers’ credit cards prematurely, not always supplying the product, and making it “nearly impossible” to cancel.

The suits request a permanent injunction barring the firms from selling dietary supplements or continuing with misleading marketing schemes. They also request restitution payments for consumers who have lost money and civil penalties of $50,000 for violating the Illinois Consumer Fraud and Deceptive Business Practices Act.
“We must hold these Internet scammers accountable for their role in a seedy marketing game that steers unsuspecting consumers to online schemes. We also need to send a clear message to other marketers and networks in the business of designing misleading, traffic enticing schemes,” said Madigan.

Children’s Diets

What children eat has a greater influence than physical activity on their body weight, a Deakin University study found.

The results of the study were published in The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition offers deep insight by providing a simple formula for predicting the effects on body weight of changes in diet or physical activity. This will be vital for assessing the potential of various programs to prevent obesity in children and adolescents.

Deakin researchers used data pooled from studies of more than 900 children aged 4-18 years around the world. They found that, even after they had accounted for differences in age, height and gender, there was still a large variation in their body weights and that three-quarters of this variation could be explained by the heavier children eating more.

"This suggests that it is overeating that is the major driver in the childhood obesity epidemic," said Professor Boyd Swinburn professor of population health and head of Deakin University's World Health Collaborating Centre for Obesity Prevention. "This fits with the last two national nutrition surveys which showed a 13 percent increase in energy intake in children over 10 years, mainly due to an increase in junk food consumption."

Many countries, including Australia, are grappling with how to turn the tide on childhood obesity. Predicting which programs are likely to be most effective has proven problematic because until now it has not been possible to estimate the effects of changes in diet or physical activity on changes in body weight.

"The simple formula we derived in this study allows us to make predictions of the effectiveness of obesity prevention programs," Professor Swinburn explained. "For example, if programs to get children to switch from energy dense foods, like high fat snacks, to fruit and veggies reduced their energy intake by 10 percent, they would weigh, on average, 4.5 percent less as a result.

"Accurately modeling the effectiveness of various population interventions will provide public health decision makers with an important interim guide to investment in obesity prevention while they await more empirical weight-change studies in children and adolescents."

Professor Swinburn's formula is already being applied in Victoria where the Department of Human Services is currently funding an assessment of the cost-effectiveness of several potential interventions to reduce childhood obesity.

Kids Health: Recognizing Signs of Dehydration

The temperature has finally started to heat up albeit mid-August. Excess heat increases the risk of heat stroke and dehydration. Always make sure to stay hydrated and drink plenty of fluids.

For more information, check out the following article on the signs and symptoms of dehydration

Under normal conditions, we all lose some body water every day in our sweat, tears, urine, and stool. Water also evaporates from our skin and leaves the body as vapor when we breathe. We usually replace this body fluid and the salts it contains with the water and salts in our regular diet.

Sometimes, however, kids lose abnormally large amounts of water and salts through fever (more water evaporates from the body when body temperature is increased), diarrhea, vomiting, or long periods of exercise with excessive sweating. Some illnesses might also prevent them from taking fluids by mouth. If they're unable to adequately replace the fluid that's been lost, kids can become dehydrated.

Recognizing Dehydration

If your child has fever, diarrhea, or vomiting, or is sweating a lot on a hot day or during intense physical activity, you should watch for signs of dehydration, which can include:
• dry or sticky mouth
• few or no tears when crying
• eyes that look sunken into the head
• lack of urine for 12 hours in an older child (or only a very small amount of dark yellow urine)
• dry, cool skin
• lethargy or irritability
• fatigue or dizziness in an older child

Preventing Dehydration

The best way to prevent dehydration is to make sure kids get plenty of fluids when they're sick or physically active — they should consume more fluids than they lose (from vomiting, diarrhea, or sweating).

It's important that kids drink often on hot, dry, and windy days. Those who participate in sports or strenuous activities should also drink some extra fluid before the activity begins. They should also drink at regular intervals (every 20 minutes) during the course of the activity and after it ends. Ideally, sports practices and competitions should be scheduled for the early morning or late afternoon to avoid the hottest part of the day.

Thirst is not a good early indicator of dehydration. By the time a child feels thirsty, he or she may already be dehydrated. And thirst can be quenched before the necessary body fluids have been replaced. That's why kids should start drinking before thirst develops and consume additional fluids even after thirst is quenched.